


5 Times Cloud Fell Asleep On Zack

by AndiiErestor



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Canon-adjacent, Gen, M/M, could be read as a friendfic, or a shipfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-28 22:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20433404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiiErestor/pseuds/AndiiErestor
Summary: As the title says.Each chapter features one instance of Cloud falling asleep on Zack.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Cloud fell asleep on Zack, it took him some time to remember he’d even done so. What, with the helicopter crash and hiking through the mountains. It had taken Tseng quietly asking about his earlier nausea to remind him.

xxxxx

“You doing okay there?” Zack’s kind voice had reached out to him through the haze.

Cloud was staring out the window on the right side of the chopper, leaning against it and letting the condensation on the window cool his panic-heated skin. He wanted to nod his head, but already the tensing of his neck made his head ache worse, so he simply grunted and kept looking ahead.

Zack chuckled, laying a friendly hand on his shoulder, “I heard keeping your eyes on the horizon helps.”

Again, Cloud started to nod before his head reminded him that was a bad idea. Instead he whispered back, “Easier said than done in this blizzard.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Zack clicked his tongue. “In that case…” Zack leaned forward as if to peer into Cloud’s face despite the helmet still covering most of it. “Close your eyes and lean on me. Pretend you’re falling asleep in a hammock in Costa del Sol.”

Cloud chuckled but nodded finally, though very, _very_ slowly, and closed his eyes. He laid his head on Zack’s shoulder and took deep, quiet breaths, matching his breathing to Zack’s without noticing. Slowly but surely he calmed and fell into a dazed trance, listening to the sound of Zack’s steady heartbeat through his shoulder.

xxxxx

He awoke to the shock of being jerked forward. The harness holding him in place cut into his shoulders as he was thrown forward – the chopper waving back and forth in the skies, the smell of smoke filling the cabin.

“The chopper’s going down,” Zack’s said, “Hold on.”

Cloud pulled off the harness, holding on to the remnants of it to keep himself upright. As the ground came into view, Zack pushed himself forward and grabbed for the door.

“We’ll have to jump,” he grunted as he pulled the door open. “Are you ready?”

Cloud nodded, looking around the cab at the other troopers and turks attempting to get the chopper flying straight again, and trying to keep their feet about them. When they were nearly down, someone shouted “_Now!”_ and all of them were out, landing in various lumps of snow – the impact causing most of them to pass out on contact.

…

When he awoke again, Zack was already up, and Tseng was dusting snow off himself.

It was only the three of them from there on.


	2. Chapter 2

The trip to Modeoheim was hellish to say the least. Who’d have thought they would be made to fight their comrades – their mentors? Zack had already… _Angeal_. Now Genesis? When would it end?

Well, Shin-Ra clearly realized at some point down the line how messed up the whole situation was because barely a week after their return to Midgar, there was Zack, begging Cloud to accompany him on vacation. Cloud refused initially, insisting that he needed to train, to show his peers he wasn’t a pushover, and yet Zack has insisted, and Cloud was powerless to refuse. Would anyone be immune to those puppy eyes? Cloud was convinced even the higher-ups had fallen to victim to them, or he never would have been excused from his duties for something like this.

The trip to Costa del Sol was spent much the same as their trips to and from Modeoheim – with Cloud leaning against Zack and desperately trying not to throw up – though the destination, and blessed lack of monsters for once, made it worthwhile.

Cloud now sat next to Zack in a lawn chair, cowering under a large umbrella, while the brunette lay back in a hammock under the open sun.

“Why won’t you just sit in the sun?” Zack laughed, “It’s _nice_. It’s _good_ for you.”

“Not if I burn and I end up full of blisters.”

“Awh man, it can’t be that bad!”

“I promise you that it is,” Cloud huffed, crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair, inadvertently giving Zack the handle he needed to pull Cloud up.

He reached over and hooked his arms under Cloud’s causing the blond to squeal out indignantly before collapsing on top of him to avoid pulling him to the ground instead.

“_Zack!_” Cloud whined, “You’re too warm, and you’re covered in sweat. _Why?_”

“Cause you need some colour, Spike,” Zack laughed, “You need to discover the joys of the sun.”

“Zack, my fragile northern skin cannot _handle_ the sun.”

“Nonsense. You just need some practice.”

“Will nothing change your mind?” Cloud grumbled as he struggled to make himself comfortable, as fighting his way out of Zack’s hold wasn’t working.

“Nope,” Zack said loudly, emphasis on the ‘p.’ “Now stop squirming.”

“Ugh,” Cloud rolled his eyes and snaked his arms through some of the holes in the netting and hooking his thumbs around Zack for comfort, before laying his head against Zack’s shoulder – _again_ – and resigning himself to waiting for the other to be distracted to try to extricate himself once more.

As fate would have it, Cloud _did_ find the sun rather enjoyable, enough so that when combined with the sound of the waves on the beach and the beating of Zack’s steady heartbeat, he quickly fell asleep.

As fate would have it, Zack quickly fell asleep as well, with his nose pressed into Cloud’s fluffy hair and his arms wrapped around a slim waist.

As fate would have it, the result of leaving Cloud exposed to direct sunlight for an excess of 90 minutes would never again be questioned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raise your hands if the sun is not your friend!


End file.
